Afghans seal historic win over clueless Pakistan

CLOCKWISE: Pakistan captain Babar Azam (second L) and team-mate Mohammad Rizwan look on as Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (second R) and Rahmat Shah take a break between overs in their match at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Monday; Shaheen Shah Afridi reacts; opener Ibrahim Zadran in action; Abdullah Shafique plays a shot as wicket-keeper Ikram Alikhil watches.—Agencies

THE M.A. Chidambaram Stadium had only two moods on Monday, both in stark contrast with each other.

During the bright, hot and sunny day time, the Chepauk, as the venue is commonly known, was in a state of frenzied celebration — appreciating cricket, unconditionally, without bias.

As the night set in, the 20,000 plus strong crowd was bored, silent and showed some half-hearted energy only when the stadium announcer tried to make them dance to local beats.

On the ground, maybe, the Pakistan players also needed a voice to get them moving, reminding them of the task at hand; a call alarming them their proximity to their first One-day International defeat against Afghanistan. There was only silence.

Babar Azam and his men stayed subdued, their shoulders weighing down as the Afghans, who stunned defending champions England earlier in the tournament, made light work of a 283-run target on what is a historically bowling-friendly surface to take the crucial World Cup fixture by eight wickets.

Impressive batting efforts by Babar, his deputy Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed — who had amped up the pleasantly sporting Chennai spectators with a blistering knock — had put Pakistan in the driving seat.

But they just let it slip out of their reach through their hands. It was just so easy for Afghanistan openers Rehmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran to smash hundred runs in 15 overs before Rahmat Shah and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi wrapped up proceedings.

Pakistan continued their poor bowling form from their previous match against Australia against the Afghans as well. Their pacers and spinners bowled lines and lengths easy for Gurbaz and Zadran to milk runs from.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf were having their pace regularly dispatched for runs all around the ground while spinners Usama Mir and Shadab bowled either drivable lengths or half trackers to make it easier for the Afghans.

Both right-handers had raced to their fifty partnership by the eighth over while they took Afghanistan past 100 runs with ease.

The 130-run stand was finally broken as Shaheen returned to bowl in the 22nd over when a flash outside the off-stump by Gurbaz, who made 65 off 53 with nine fours and a six, found Usama’s safe hands at deep third-man.

That didn’t change anything for the Afghans, who now valued their wickets even more and pounced on loose deliveries, which kept coming.

Hasan dismissing Zadran for a 113-ball 87 that featured 10 fours in the 34th over brought an extremely dim ray of hope for Pakistan, but it vanished as Shah (77 not out off 84) and Shahidi (48 not out off 45) — who fittingly hit the winning runs — ensured the Afghans cross the finish line to register their first win against Pakistan in eight one-dayers.

It was the combination of Babar’s solidity and Iftikhar’s explosiveness that took Pakistan to a fairly formidable 282-7 after they won the toss and elected to bat first.

Recognising the importance of longevity on what was a spin-friendly pitch, Babar extended his stay at the crease after Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique had combined for a 56-run opening stand.

He would go on to spend two hours in the middle, while hitting only four boundaries and a six for his 74 off 92 before Iftikhar — with Shadab’s crucial support — launched a late onslaught that would take Pakistan to an above par score.

Imam was the first to depart, miscuing a pull shot to become pacer Azmatullah Omarzai’s victim after seeing Abdullah hit two sixes in the powerplay — a rare occurrence for Pakistan lately.

Babar’s, predictably, got off the mark with a cover drive for four and pulled for another boundary two overs later.

The Pakistan skipper, however, would then drop the anchor and rely on singles and doubles as spinners Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad continued to ask questions.

Babar had his fair share of problems against the turning ball, but he managed to keep going unlike his partners at the other end in Abdullah, Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel.

As soon as Babar decided to change gears, launching Noor for a six over long-on soon after bringing up his 30th ODI fifty in 67 balls, he had his first lapse of concentration, which saw him play the spinner into the hands of Mohammad Nabi at extra cover, becoming Noor’s (3-49) third and final wicket.

The dismissal gave way to Iftikhar’s entry and the muscular right-hander initiated his fireworks with a towering six over midwicket in Rashid’s last over.

Shadab (40 off 38), although less exuberant than his partner on the other end in the 45-ball 73-run partnership, pulled Omarzai for a six after Iftikhar had slapped Naveen-ul-Haq for his second maximum.

Iftikhar (40 off 27) found two boundaries off the pacer in the same over, bludgeoned Naveen for a four and a six in the next over and took on Azmatullah again for another big one.

The effort, however, wasn’t enough for Pakistan to avoid a historic low.

POINTS TABLE

(Tabulated under played, won, lost, tied, no result, points, net run-rate):

India 5 5 0 0 0 10 1.353

New Zealand 5 4 1 0 0 8 1.481

South Africa 4 3 1 0 0 6 2.212

Australia 4 2 2 0 0 4 -0.193

Pakistan 5 2 3 0 0 4 -0.400

Afghanistan 5 2 3 0 0 4 -0.969

Bangladesh 4 1 3 0 0 2 -0.784

Netherlands 4 1 3 0 0 2 -0.790

Sri Lanka 4 1 3 0 0 2 -1.048